Monday, May 17, 2010
'Family Values' Weaken Families
National Journal Magazine - Do 'Family Values' Weaken Families? The standard "Red State" formula of early marriage due to failed/no birth control used to make blue-collar man and women out of boys an girls.
Rank hypocrisy
Typical repugican!
As Texas faces an $11 billion shortfall, Rick Perry's luxury lifestyle spurs claims of "rank hypocrisy."
Also: 
What the cool kids are doing, and it's nuts...
This explains why the 'cool' kids aren't.
'Vodka eyeballing', as it is known in student circles, is the latest drinking craze to sweep through Britain's universities.
Those who do it claim that it induces feelings of drunkenness at break-neck speeds, providing an instant high.
Culinary DeLites
Culinary DeLites
Each serving has nutrients that can help melt body flab and replace it with firm muscle.
Also: NJ college valedictorian proposes to boyfriend
A New Jersey college valedictorian had a special graduation gift for her boyfriend - a wedding proposal, which he accepted.
Obesity, a chemical reaction?
Studies are showing increasing evidence there may be a link between certain chemicals and obesity. a new study found overweight young girls had significantly higher levels of phthalates than the general population of children. phthalates are found in plastics and can be hormone disruptors.
Driving like crazy
Do you know how to react if a vehicle is heading straight toward you in your lane?
Also: 
Several states hope an obstacle course will curb cell use among teens while driving.
Also:
Leave it to the Irish
Paddy and Murphy have traveled to the land where the streets are paved with gold, only to find they'll still have to work to make a living.
They find a job, painting the white line in the middle of the road.
Three days later, the boss wants to speak to them; "I don't understand what is wrong with you, the first day you did an excellent job, you painted 10 miles, the next day just five and today only a few hundred meters. Give me a good reason not to fire you both!"
"That's easy,"" says Paddy, "the walk back to the tin of paint takes longer and longer each day."
They find a job, painting the white line in the middle of the road.
Three days later, the boss wants to speak to them; "I don't understand what is wrong with you, the first day you did an excellent job, you painted 10 miles, the next day just five and today only a few hundred meters. Give me a good reason not to fire you both!"
"That's easy,"" says Paddy, "the walk back to the tin of paint takes longer and longer each day."
Family travel 10,000 miles to view Britain's most remote pub
Faced with relentless sunshine, overwhelming natural beauty and a perma-tanned population, it is little wonder that one adventurous Californian family wanted to escape to remotest Scotland. The family sailed off on a 10,000-mile round trip to view mainland Britain's remotest pub, which has been put up for sale, according to agents selling the business.
The Old Forge on the Knoydart peninsula in northern Scotland is not your average local. Reachable only by boat, or an 18-mile hike over 1,000-metre hills, the pub has won accolades for being one of the most beautiful – if out-of-the-way – drinking establishments in the country.
The pub, in the village of Inverie, is 45 minutes away by ferry from Mallaig or 20 minutes by a daily water taxi, but since being put on the market by its owners – who, one suspects, may be looking for a quieter life – it has received no shortage of offers from would-be publicans willing to pay the £790,000 asking price.
Agents Knight Frank, said that there are five "serious" potential bidders including from a family in Montreal, Canada, and others from Edinburgh, Oban, London, and New Zealand. Apparently tired of California's non-stop sunshine, the family, who are originally from the UK, are looking to return to Britain to start a business that offers both profit and "lifestyle choice", he added.
"What has attracted them to The Old Forge is their love of sailing. They have looked at the business as customers and also looked at the surrounding area of Mallaig and Oban to get a feel for the yachting that the area offers." Despite the obvious scarcity of customers – the pub serves a community of around 115 – the Old Forge is an attractive business proposition, with six-figure profits, according to agents. The pub and restaurant is on the main sailing route to Skye, the Outer Hebrides and the Small Isles and attracts yachtsmen, hillwalkers and tourists throughout the year.
"The first serious, secure offer over the asking price is likely to be accepted," said David Reid at Knight Frank. "No formal offers have yet been made but we have serious interest from five parties at the moment, including the family from California. We also have a family from Canada who want to come and view as well as those in Europe. We have also had inquiries from all over the UK."
The Old Forge on the Knoydart peninsula in northern Scotland is not your average local. Reachable only by boat, or an 18-mile hike over 1,000-metre hills, the pub has won accolades for being one of the most beautiful – if out-of-the-way – drinking establishments in the country.
The pub, in the village of Inverie, is 45 minutes away by ferry from Mallaig or 20 minutes by a daily water taxi, but since being put on the market by its owners – who, one suspects, may be looking for a quieter life – it has received no shortage of offers from would-be publicans willing to pay the £790,000 asking price.
Agents Knight Frank, said that there are five "serious" potential bidders including from a family in Montreal, Canada, and others from Edinburgh, Oban, London, and New Zealand. Apparently tired of California's non-stop sunshine, the family, who are originally from the UK, are looking to return to Britain to start a business that offers both profit and "lifestyle choice", he added.
"What has attracted them to The Old Forge is their love of sailing. They have looked at the business as customers and also looked at the surrounding area of Mallaig and Oban to get a feel for the yachting that the area offers." Despite the obvious scarcity of customers – the pub serves a community of around 115 – the Old Forge is an attractive business proposition, with six-figure profits, according to agents. The pub and restaurant is on the main sailing route to Skye, the Outer Hebrides and the Small Isles and attracts yachtsmen, hillwalkers and tourists throughout the year.
"The first serious, secure offer over the asking price is likely to be accepted," said David Reid at Knight Frank. "No formal offers have yet been made but we have serious interest from five parties at the moment, including the family from California. We also have a family from Canada who want to come and view as well as those in Europe. We have also had inquiries from all over the UK."
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The Daily Drift
The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:You've had quite a week, full of highs and lows -- and that's just not like you!
You like to see yourself as an emotional rock, never letting anything as trivial as a passing feeling get between you and your objectives.
Now that your emotions are surfacing, you're having quite a time getting used to them.
Fortunately, your mate or best friend is most definitely in the mood for helping out.
Some of our readers today have been in:
Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Quebec, Quebec, Canada
Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany
Blagoevgrad, Sofiya, Bulgaria
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Karlskrona, Blekinge Lan, Sweden
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Hull, Quebec, Canada
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Annecy, Rhone-Alpes, France
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Bourges, Centre, France
Milano, Lombardia, Italy
Coffs Harbor, New South Wales, Australia
Dundalk, Louth, Ireland
London, England, United Kingdom
as well as Scotland, Hungary, and the United States in such cities as Citrus Heights, Belevedere Tiburon, Addison, Brooklyn and more
Today is Sunday, May 16, the 136th day of 2010.
There are 229 days left in the year.
Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:
National Sea Monkey Day
National Sea Monkey Day
The kilt is the most popular of the world's traditional garments
The kilt has been rated as the most popular of the world's traditional garments
As The World Turns
As The World Turns
Once bustling with visitors, Bangkok is now a "live fire zone," where protesters and police battle.
Also: A Swedish artist whose drawing of the Prophet Muhammad with a dogs body angered Muslims said Sunday he doesn't feel safe in his home at night, after a week of attacks against him.
The Internet, not so bad for us after all?
Access to the Web leads people to feel better about their lives, a new study finds.
Also: 
On The Job
On The Job
Some of the most stressful careers pay surprisingly little — and vice versa.
Also: It's The Economy Stupid
It's The Economy Stupid
Thousands of small nonprofits are on the cusp of losing their tax-exempt status and possibly closing.
Also: 
Social Security is just one of the many sources you can tap to fund your retirement.
Also: 
Cutting out daily lattes is a good start, but you should really focus on these areas.
Also: Yet another beef recall
Just a note for those who have a working brain ... there's been no one leadingUSDA's Food Safety & Inspection Service since December 2008.
The repugicans have been holding up the nominee process.
Call your senators and tell them to grow up and get someone into that post ... post haste.
In the mean time - from the USDA:
The repugicans have been holding up the nominee process.
Call your senators and tell them to grow up and get someone into that post ... post haste.
In the mean time - from the USDA:
Montclair Meat Co., Inc., a Montclair, Calif., establishment is recalling approximately 53,000 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with e. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.the products subject to recall include:various pound packages of "montclair meat co. ground beef"
various pound packages of "montclair meat co. all beef patties"
How online hackers can steal your cash
Americans lost $559 million to Internet thieves last year, and face attacks daily.
Also: Secretive traders in spotlight after crash
Investors that "pick up pennies" in the stock market may have sparked the recent historic drop.
Also: Changing Political Attitudes
People want Democrats to control Congress after this fall's elections
Voters revise their views of Democrats, but what will that mean on Election Day?
Also: Lunatic Fringe
Lunatic Fringe
Utah and Maine repugican conventions show a party coming unglued
Future historians tracing the crackup of the repugican party may well look to May 8, 2010, as an inflection point. That was the day, as is now well known, that Robert Bennett, who took the wingnut position 84 percent of the time over his career, was deemed not wingnut enough by fellow Utah repugicans and kicked out of the primary.
Less well known, but no less ominous, is what happened that same day, 2,500 miles east in Maine. There, the state repugican party tossed its platform -- a standard New England call for free-market economics -- and adopted a manifesto of insanity: abolishing the Federal Reserve, calling global warming a "myth," sealing the border, and, as a final plank, fighting "efforts to create a one world government."
And I Quote
"If christ were here there is one thing he would not be - a christian."
"A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows."
~ Mark Twain
Very Rare Pink Katydid
Photo via Flickr
What you are looking at is the very rare and very pink katydid. First discovered back in 1887, the pink katydid is so rare that they occur once out of every 500 individuals. You have a better chance of spotting a unicorn in the wild. Of course, the color pink alone isn't very common to the animal kingdom, flamingos aside. It's the result of a condition called erythrism, similar to the recessive gene that afflicts albino animals.
Article continues: Photos of the Very Rare Pink Katydid
"Nicotine Bees"
Bee barely hangs on before collapsing. Photo by Operaticomnivore
Following France and Germany, last year the Italian Agriculture Ministry suspended the use of a class of pesticides, nicotine-based neonicotinoids, as a "precautionary measure." The compelling results - restored bee populations - prompted the government to uphold the ban. Yesterday, copies of the film 'Nicotine Bees' were delivered to the US Congress explaining the pesticide's connection to Colony Collapse Disorder. Despite the evidence, why does CCD remain a 'mystery' in the US? Article continues: "Nicotine Bees" Population Restored With Neonicotinoids Ban
WWF hails North Sea cod conservation program success
From The Independent:
North Sea cod, once on the brink as a result of decades of over-fishing, has now recovered to an extent that the public should start eating it again with enthusiasm, one of the world's biggest wildlife charities has said.
In a rare wildlife conservation success story, the charity WWF said the fish renowned for its flaky white chunks was being caught sustainably off the shallow cold waters of north and eastern Britain for the first time in a decade. Stocks of the fish have risen by 52 per cent from their historic low four years ago because of a combination of cuts in landing quotas, and conservation techniques which have reduced the number tossed back dead into the sea.
As a result, the EU has increased the British quota for North Sea cod by 16 per cent this year, from 11,216 tonnes to 13,000. Although stocks are still low by historic standards, the recovery could prompt British supermarkets to start stocking North Sea cod again. Most cod in grocery chains and fish and chip shops at present comes from Iceland and the Barents Sea.
A turn of a phrase
Heebie-jeebies
Meaning: A feeling of anxiety, apprehension or illness.
Origin: The sound of this term seems to hark back to earlier rhyming phrases, like hocus-pocus and mumbo-jumbo, with a touch of the jitters thrown in. The meaning is more like the British term - the screaming habdabs.
Heebie and jeebie don't mean anything as independent words and heebie jeebies was coined at a time and place when there was a spate of new nonsense rhyming pairs, called rhyming reduplications, - the bee's knees, etc., i.e. 1920s USA.
The term is widely attributed to William Morgan "Billy" de Beck. The first citation of it in print is certainly in a 1923 cartoon of his, in the 26th October edition of the New York American:"You dumb ox - why don't you get that stupid look offa your pan - you gimme the heeby jeebys!"
Heebie jeebies caught on quickly and very soon began appearing in many newspapers and works of literature in the USA and, from 1927 onward, the UK. For example, here's an entry from the Van Nuys News, 6th November 1923, just a few days after de Beck's cartoon was published:
"Bill Alton showed up poorly in center field. The boys seemed to have the heebie jeebies."
The lack of any explanation in either of the above citations seems to imply that the term would have been known to the readership of both publications by the time of printing.
The speed of take-up of heebie jeebies, in a similar way to another coinage that is attributed to de Beck - horse feathers, 
does suggest an origin in the media rather than street slang, which tends to spread more slowly.
does suggest an origin in the media rather than street slang, which tends to spread more slowly.The term became part of the language quickly enough for it to begin appearing in advertisements from 1924 onwards, as in this illustration from the Mexia Daily News, October 1924, in an ad for a cold cure.
Planet Earth
Planet Earth
In one of the most stupidest lines ever uttered ...
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
~ Decca records, rejecting The Beatles 1962
In Matters Of Health
In Matters Of Health
Find out why one doctor is advising people to spend time in the sun without sunscreen.
Also: Upping the cute factor
After 13 years dog returns to family - Possibly
There are still doubts in Terry Horne's mind as to whether or not the dog that came limping into her yard, is the same dog that went missing 13 years ago. Simba was just 8 months old when the Horne's came home from church and their beloved puppy had vanished.Weeks spent searching turned into months. Simba turned into a cherished memory. But only a few weeks ago, an emaciated and flea-ridden red Siberian Husky came into the yard. Horne called her husband and asked could it be?
The dog has been to the vet and cleaned up quite nicely. He sits in the same spots Simba used to sit in. He loves to give kisses. He's the most gentle dog you'd ever want to meet. But he's been missing 13 years. What happened? Where was he? Is it even him?
All these questions are irrelevant when Terry looks over at the dog sprawled out in a shade-spot. "I think he looks happy, don't you?"
There's a longer story with another video here.
Culinary DeLites
Culinary DeLites
From portable tailgaters to large, free-standing models, these gas grills earn top marks.
Also: 
Principal's eat sh-- and die e-mail to parent sparks controversy
An elementary school principal's potty-mouthed e-mail has ignited an uproar among some Coconut Grove parents who now want her replaced. Parents at Coconut Grove Elementary School are calling for the ouster of Principal Eva N. Ravelo this week after she told a parent in an e-mail to ``eat sh-- and die.''
The controversy, which is now under review by the school district's central office, started on Monday. Abigail DuBearn, a member of the school's Educational Excellence School Advisory Committee, or EESAC, had asked Ravelo and other council members whether student representatives of the committee ``could be notified today and be invited to attend and participate'' at Monday's meeting.
Ravelo, 45, then replied to DuBearn's e-mail with the message: ``Advise her to eat sh-- and die.'' Ravelo spelled the swear word like it appears here -- without the last two letters.
Maria Orjeda, the school's reading coach, who spoke on behalf of Ravelo, said the principal meant to send the e-mail about DuBearn to her assistant principal, Ramón Dawkins, instead of DuBearn.
The controversy, which is now under review by the school district's central office, started on Monday. Abigail DuBearn, a member of the school's Educational Excellence School Advisory Committee, or EESAC, had asked Ravelo and other council members whether student representatives of the committee ``could be notified today and be invited to attend and participate'' at Monday's meeting.
Ravelo, 45, then replied to DuBearn's e-mail with the message: ``Advise her to eat sh-- and die.'' Ravelo spelled the swear word like it appears here -- without the last two letters.
Maria Orjeda, the school's reading coach, who spoke on behalf of Ravelo, said the principal meant to send the e-mail about DuBearn to her assistant principal, Ramón Dawkins, instead of DuBearn.
Odds and Sods
Odds and Sods
'Yeild To Bikes' Street Signs Removed In Nevada
Residents no longer have to shake their heads over two "Yeild to bikes" signs along a busy Nevada street.
Headlines:
- Urban Pollution Raises Blood Pressure Pollution in urban areas linked to hight blood pressure. Particulate matter is blamed.
- Alzheimer's Disease: Bad News and Good News An independent panel recently concluded that no firm evidence exists for any prevention of Alzheimer's or cognitive decline, but the next few years could bring answers.
- Mechanism Found That Makes Order From Chaotic Newborn Brain Mechanism in the memory center of newborn adjusts the maturation of the brain.
- Holy Bat Trick! Biosonar Could Give Robots Night Vision Researchers are replicating bats' echolocation for robots to use in sensing the shape of their surroundings
Saturday, May 15, 2010
The Daily Drift
The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:You know deep in your bones that the only way to real success is through practice, practice and more practice.
You can see that you need to shape up a bit more today, too.
You might ask a perfectly straightforward question only to get a weird non sequitur in reply.
Look beneath the surface and draw on your experience to find some very good advice.
Some of our readers today have been in:
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Buenos Aires, Distrito Federal, Argentina
Santiago, Region Metropolitana, Chile
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Rome, Lazio, Italy
Salisbury, England, United Kingdom
Bourges, Centre, France
Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany
Doha, Ad Dawah, Qatar
Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
Quebec, Quebec, Canada
Karlskrona, Blekinge Lan, Sweden
Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Bremen, Bremen, Germany
London, England, United Kingdom
New Delhi, Delhi, India
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Coffs Harbor, New South Wales, Australia
Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Cote D'Azur, France
Turku, Western Finland, Finland
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
as well as Hungary, and the United States in such cities as Germantown, Baton Rouge, Flanders, Saugus and more
Today is Saturday, May 15, the 135th day of 2010.
There are 230 days left in the year.
Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:
National Chocolate Chip Day
National Chocolate Chip Day
National Pizza Party Day
Nylon Stockings Day
and
Straw Hat Day
President Obama's Weekly Address
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Weekly Address
Washington, DC
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Weekly Address
Washington, DC
Jumpstarting job creation in the private sector and fostering a climate that encourages businesses to hire again is vitally important – and I’ll continue working hard to make sure that happens. But my responsibility as President isn’t just to help our economy rebound from this recession – it’s to make sure an economic crisis like the one that helped trigger this recession never happens again.
That’s what Wall Street reform will help us do. In recent weeks, there’s been a lot of back and forth about the reform bill currently making its way through Congress. There’s been a lot of discussion about technical aspects of the bill, and a lot of heated – and frankly, sometimes misleading – rhetoric coming from opponents of reform.
All of this has helped obscure what reform would actually mean for you, the American people. So, I just wanted to take a few minutes to talk about why every American has a stake in Wall Street reform.
First and foremost, you have a stake in it if you’ve ever been treated unfairly by a credit card company, misled by pages and pages of fine print, or ended up paying fees and penalties you’d never heard of before. And you have a stake in it if you’ve ever tried to take out a home loan, a car loan, or a student loan, and been targeted by the predatory practices of unscrupulous lenders.
The Wall Street reform bill in Congress represents the strongest consumer financial protections in history. You’ll be empowered with the clear and concise information you need to make the choices that are best for you. We’ll help stop predatory practices, and curb unscrupulous lenders, helping secure your family’s financial future.
That’s why families have a stake in it. And our community banks also have a stake in reform. These are banks we count on to provide the capital that lets our small businesses hire and grow.
The way the system is currently set up, these banks are at a disadvantage because while they are often playing by the rules, many of their less scrupulous competitors are not. So, what reform will do is help level the playing field by making sure all our lenders – not just community banks – are subject to tough oversight. That’s good news for our community banks, which is why we’ve received letters from some of these banks in support of reform.
What’s true for our community banks is also true for small businessmen and women like the ones I met in Buffalo. These small businesses were some of the worst victims of the excessive risk-taking on Wall Street that led to this crisis. Their credit dried up. They had to let people go. Some even shut their doors altogether. And unless we put in place real safeguards, we could see it happen all over again.
That’s why Wall Street reform is so important. With reform, we’ll make our financial system more transparent by bringing the kinds of complex, backroom deals that helped trigger this crisis into the light of day. We’ll prevent banks from taking on so much risk that they could collapse and threaten our whole economy. And we’ll give shareholders more of a say on pay to help change the perverse incentives that encouraged reckless risk-taking in the first place. Put simply, Wall Street reform will bring greater security to folks on Main Street.
The stories I heard in Buffalo this week were a reminder that, despite the progress we’ve made, we need to keep working hard, so we can build on that progress and rebound from this recession in the short-term. But even as we do, we also need to lay a new foundation for growth and shared prosperity over the long-term.
Next week, we have a chance to help lay a cornerstone in that foundation. The reform bill being debated in the Senate will not solve every problem in our financial system – no bill could. But what this strong bill will do is important, and I urge the Senate to pass it as soon as possible, so we can secure America’s economic future in the 21st century.
As The World Turns
As The World Turns
China school attacker sentenced to death
A Chinese court sentenced a man to death today for an attack on a school that left 29 children and three kindergarten teachers hurt last month.Violence continues in Thailand
From the BBC:Thai troops are clashing with anti-government protesters in the capital Bangkok, on a third day of violence that has killed at least 16 people.
Plumes of smoke are rising from sections of the city centre, where the protesters, who want the prime minister to resign, are barricaded in a camp.
Authorities have ruled out negotiations with the red-shirt protesters.
The State Of The Nation
The State Of The Nation
Illegal immigrant student hopes case helps reform
When Jessica Colotl, an illegal immigrant college student, got arrested for a minor traffic violation at her suburban Atlanta campus, she became an accidental poster child for immigration reform.Mystical Albino Alligator Comes To South Carolina
photo: SC Aquarium
I had a chance to see my first albino alligator last week because the South Carolina Aquarium welcomed the species for the first time. I stared into the tank without even a blink to discern for myself if the creature was even real. The gator floated atop the water motionless until a sudden twitch proved the bright pink eyed lizard was no premonition. Article continues: Is it Real? Mystical Albino Alligator Comes To South Carolina
U.S. Rights Group Sues To Protect Right To Swear
An American rights group is suing the police in Pennsylvania for issuing tickets, which carry a jail sentence, to people for swearing.
Mom threw tot in NY river out of spousal spite
An unhappy mother hurled her toddler daughter into the chilly Hudson River and then jumped in herself in an apparent murder-suicide attempt intended to spite her husband, prosecutors said Friday.
Brain illness leaves woman unable to recognize anyone's voice except Sean Connery
A 62-year-old woman is providing new insights into how the human brain works after becoming the first person to be diagnosed with a condition that leaves her unable to recognize voices. The successful British businesswoman, who is normal in every other way, is the first known case of someone being born with developmental phonagnosia, which leaves her unable to recognize even the voices of her own family. Her condition is so profound that she often avoids using the telephone and struggles to identify people speaking on the radio. Neuroscientists have now performed a series of tests and brain scans while asking her to listen to a range of recorded voices.
They found that while she was perfectly able to understand what was being said, she was unable to identify a speaker as someone she had been listening to a few minutes earlier. Researchers are finding that her condition goes beyond a simple inability to remember voices, as she even has difficulty discriminating between two voices played back to back. Brain scans taken as she listened to voices showed her brain reacted differently from most people's, suggesting it is unable to process information from voices about speaker identity.
Professor Belin has been working with Dr Brad Duchaine, from University College London's Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, who was the first to recognize that the woman, identified only as KH, suffered from phonagnosia. She came forward after reading about work that Dr Duchaine had been doing on prosopagnosia, a condition where people are unable to recognize and remember faces. The woman, who is a management consultant, agreed to take part in a series of tests and has now undergone brain scans in Glasgow.
She revealed that she has struggled with recognizing voices all her life and even has difficulty recognizing her daughter. She avoids using the telephone and only answers calls that have been booked in advance so she knows who she is talking to. In one embarrassing incident, KH was speaking with a group of colleagues at a meeting when someone came up behind her and began speaking. As she did not recognize the voice, she did not turn around to acknowledge the person. She later realized, however, that the person was an important colleague and feared that her failure to acknowledge their presence could be interpreted as a snub.
In one test, KH was unable to identify the voices of a series of well known and distinctive celebrities, including Joanna Lumley, David Beckham and Margaret Thatcher. She did however manage to identity the Scottish accent of Sir Sean Connery. Another test showed how she could not distinguish between two individual speakers when their voices were played one after the other.
Scans revealed that a part of her brain known as the temporal voice area was far less active on the right hemisphere of her brain while she had normal activity in the left. The finding suggests that in the human brain, the right side is more important in voice recognition while the left is used to understand words.
They found that while she was perfectly able to understand what was being said, she was unable to identify a speaker as someone she had been listening to a few minutes earlier. Researchers are finding that her condition goes beyond a simple inability to remember voices, as she even has difficulty discriminating between two voices played back to back. Brain scans taken as she listened to voices showed her brain reacted differently from most people's, suggesting it is unable to process information from voices about speaker identity.
Professor Belin has been working with Dr Brad Duchaine, from University College London's Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, who was the first to recognize that the woman, identified only as KH, suffered from phonagnosia. She came forward after reading about work that Dr Duchaine had been doing on prosopagnosia, a condition where people are unable to recognize and remember faces. The woman, who is a management consultant, agreed to take part in a series of tests and has now undergone brain scans in Glasgow.
She revealed that she has struggled with recognizing voices all her life and even has difficulty recognizing her daughter. She avoids using the telephone and only answers calls that have been booked in advance so she knows who she is talking to. In one embarrassing incident, KH was speaking with a group of colleagues at a meeting when someone came up behind her and began speaking. As she did not recognize the voice, she did not turn around to acknowledge the person. She later realized, however, that the person was an important colleague and feared that her failure to acknowledge their presence could be interpreted as a snub.
In one test, KH was unable to identify the voices of a series of well known and distinctive celebrities, including Joanna Lumley, David Beckham and Margaret Thatcher. She did however manage to identity the Scottish accent of Sir Sean Connery. Another test showed how she could not distinguish between two individual speakers when their voices were played one after the other.
Scans revealed that a part of her brain known as the temporal voice area was far less active on the right hemisphere of her brain while she had normal activity in the left. The finding suggests that in the human brain, the right side is more important in voice recognition while the left is used to understand words.
Brain Physicals
How would you like to be more productive? Some people are taking enormous mental leaps just by getting their brain power checked, and it's really paying off.
Gulf Oysters & Wild Shrimp Leaving US Menus Fast - Other Seafood Not So Much
Texas Gulf-caught Shrimp. Image credit:Alcoholian, Sautéed Texas Gulf Shrimp
I was surprised to learn from the LA Times that most (83%) of the seafood consumed in the USA is imported and that the Gulf of Mexico supplies only about 2% of all seafood consumed here. When distributors say 'not to worry' about the Gulf oil spill, they are factually correct. As a nation, our seafood consumption is already so unsustainable you'll barely notice a change resulting from the BP gusher...unless, of course, you heart locally produced oysters and wild-caught shrimp (as pictured).Article continues: Gulf Oysters & Wild Shrimp Leaving US Menus Fast - Other Seafood Not So Much
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